Borja Sainz netted his second hat-trick of the season as Norwich bounced back to winning ways in spectacular fashion by thrashing Plymouth 6-1 at Carrow Road.
Without a win in their seven previous Championships games, the Canaries were in control from the moment top scorer Sainz fired them into a second-minute lead.
Sainz went on to add two more to take his season’s tally to 15 while Shane Duffy, Anis Ben Slimane and Ante Crnac were also on target as the hosts got their season firmly back on track.
Mustapha Bundu had given Argyle a glimmer of hope by making it 2-1 just before the break but they were outclassed throughout and could easily have lost by an even greater margin.
Norwich completely dominated the opening 20 minutes, scoring twice and carving out enough chances to have at least doubled that tally.
The Canaries took less than two minutes to get their noses in front, with the linesman’s flag staying down as Crnac slipped the ball through to Sainz, who fired home from what looked like an offside position.
But Argyle defender Julio Pleguezuelo had got a touch on the ball after Crnac’s pass so the goal stood, much to the disgust of visiting coach Wayne Rooney, who made his feelings known to the fourth official in no uncertain manner.
The Norwich opportunities continued to come thick and fast, with Duffy side-footing over from close range and Crnac hitting a post with a low shot before heading straight at goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw when it looked easier to score.
A second goal was inevitable and it finally arrived in the 17th minute when Emiliano Marcondes played in Sainz who calmly beat the keeper to maintain his superb start to the season.
Plymouth looked shell-shocked but got themselves a lifeline on 39 minutes.
Jacob Sorensen’s risky pass out of defence was intercepted by Kornel Szucs and his ball to Andre Gray was flicked into the path of Bundu to confidently beat Angus Gunn from just inside the box.
Norwich would have been kicking themselves for only being one up at the break but quickly restored their two-goal advantage in the second half.
Just six minutes after the restart, they won a corner on the left and Marcondes’ delivery was perfectly directed for Duffy to head home virtually unchallenged to make it 3-1.
It was game over on 72 minutes as Sainz completed his hat-trick to extend the home side’s lead.
With Argyle chasing a way back into the game, a quick Norwich break ended with Jack Stacey playing in the little Spaniard, who cut inside before beating Grimshaw with another sublime finish.
The hosts then scored twice in the space of three minutes to make it a humiliating night for Rooney’s men.
Substitute Slimane opened his account for the Canaries in the 80th minute after latching on to a Stacey cutback and then Crnac pounced on an error from Pleguezuelo to fire home a sixth.
